India Bans 138 Chinese Betting Apps; Here’s The Full List

India Bans 138 Chinese Betting Apps In Yet Another Digital Surgical Strike; Here’s The Full List

SUMMARY

The ban has come after MHA directed MeitY to block access to 232 betting and digital loan apps with links to China

The banned apps were reportedly found flouting Section 69 of the IT Act

Among the apps that have been banned include Betway, 1xBet, and Lotus 365, among others

Escalating its digital surgical strike on China, India has now undertaken a fresh round of app bans in the country, targeting as many as 138 offshore betting platforms.

In an order issued on February 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to ban and block as many as 232 apps that either originate or have links to China. These included 138 betting apps and 94 online lending apps.

Sources said that the apps in question were flouting Section 69 of the IT Act. Additionally, senior officials of the ministry are of the opinion that these apps contained material, which was purportedly a threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the country.

India’s Crackdown On China-Linked Apps

Another overarching theme that appears to have figured prominently in the government’s debate on the matter was that these lending apps were trapping Indians in debt and were charging exorbitant interest rates on Indian consumers.

The ban comes amid growing clamour from citizens and consumers to tighten noose on digital loan apps, which have been accused of harassing borrowers. The situation has been complicated by the presence of Chinese entities and nationals that operate such platforms.

In the ongoing crackdown on such apps over the course of last year, it has emerged that many of these Chinese lending apps take control of users’ phones and send sensitive information to digital lenders. In many cases, it has emerged that many such apps allegedly blackmail people with morphed pictures during debt collection.

These platforms have pushed many into debt traps. As a result, many instances of young and adults dying by suicide have come to the fore in the past few years. While the government has directed Google to clamp down on such apps on its marketplace, efforts have so far yielded very few results.

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Surprisingly, the websites of homegrown lendingtech players such as Prosus-backed PayU’s LazyPay and Kissht have been blocked in the country, although their apps can still be downloaded from Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store.

On the other hand, betting apps have also hit the news for all the wrong reasons. Many such platforms lure users with high returns and then trap them into a cycle of heavy payments but no winnings.

Instances have also emerged where many Chinese nationals allegedly operated multiple entities, in connivance with Indians, to operate fraud online gaming platforms. Many such platforms have also used proceeds from these fake apps to launder money and send them across the border.

These betting websites operate without any oversight and are based outside India, making it difficult to prosecute these companies in the event of a legal case.

Many of these betting platforms have also been operating under the garb of sports blogs and employ surrogate methods to woo users.

This comes close on the heels of the Indian government directing search giant Google to stop displaying all kinds of ads from overseas online betting companies. Earlier, the union government had also urged the broadcasters and video streaming services to not air ads related to online betting.

The move comes nearly a year after the Union government banned 54 apps over apprehensions of either having originated in China or having some Chinese connection.

The app ban saga began in 2020 after the centre imposed the very first ban of 59 apps in June that year. Big names, including short video platform TikTok, file sharing app ShareIt, and UC Browser, among other popular apps were affected in the melee.

In between, multiple bans were imposed, which impacted as many as 320 Chinese apps. Counting the current 232 apps, the total number now stands at 552.

Here’s The Full List Of China-Linked Betting Apps That Have Been Banned By The Government: